The Vatican has reasserted that only the Catholic Church has all the elements that Jesus wanted his church to have, but also affirmed that the Holy Spirit is active in other traditions and that other Christians will go to heaven.

The statement was issued yesterday by Cardinal William Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. It defines "church" as Vatican II used it in relation to the Orthodox and Protestant traditions. As in past documents, it refuses to call Protestant bodies "churches" and says that the Orthodox are churches with defects.

According to Vatican II, the one church that Christ founded "subsists" within the Catholic Church. Yesterday's text tries to define "subsists."

The council held that the true church "subsists in" rather than "is" the Catholic Church because the Holy Spirit is also at work in other Christian communities, the document says.

That wording "brings out more clearly the fact that there are 'numerous elements of sanctification and of truth' which are found outside her structure, but which 'as gifts properly belonging to the Church of Christ, impel towards Catholic Unity," it says, quoting documents of Vatican II.

It continues, with another quotation from Vatican II, which was held from 1962 to 1965:

"It follows that these separated churches and communities, though we believe they suffer from defects, are deprived neither of significance nor importance in the mystery of salvation. In fact the Spirit of Christ has not refrained from using them as instruments of salvation, whose value derives from that fullness of grace and truth which has been entrusted to the Catholic Church."

The new text says that the Orthodox lack unity with the bishop of Rome and that Protestants also lack clergy who can be traced back to the 12 apostles and sacraments passed down through that line of succession.

Because of the emphasis on what other traditions lack, many news services treated it primarily as a condemnation.

Instead, it is an affirmation of the ecumenical effort, said the Rev. Jerome Vereb, a Passionist priest from Pittsburgh who worked for seven years in the Vatican's Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity and the author of "Because He Was a German," a book on the origins of the Vatican's ecumenical office.

"This is one of the first times that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has actually acknowledged with a positive spin the good work that has been done regarding the various models of the church within the ecumenical discussions," he said.

"This is meant as a clarification for theologians, and can be confusing to the laity."

It tells theologians that the one true church subsists in the Catholic Church due to the historic continuity of its leadership and sacraments, Father Vereb said. It attributes the work toward ultimate reunification to the Holy Spirit, he said.

"It clearly states that the Spirit is active in other churches, without specifically stating what that implies. To unpack that concept means that the mystery of salvation is available to all, divine revelation is available to all. There is a sacramental character to the nature of each religious family, and an action of grace in all acts of worship, repentance and charity," he said.

The Rev. Donald Green, a Lutheran who is executive director of the ecumenical Christian Associates of Southwestern Pennsylvania, found nothing new in the document.

"I don't see this disrupting ecumenical engagement," he said.

He noted that many denominations believe that theirs is the most faithful to what Jesus intended, and that Protestant and Orthodox traditions are often more critical of Catholicism than the Catholic Church is of them.

The document "tries to open the door to understanding that God isn't working only through the Roman Catholic Church for salvation and holiness, but is working also through what the document identifies as the Oriental churches and the ecclesial communities of the Reformation era," he said.

The Rev. Thomas Reese, a senior fellow at Georgetown University's Woodstock Theological Institute who studies the Catholic hierarchy, believes Pope Benedict wanted to correct the impression of many younger Catholics that there is no significant difference between various traditions.

"I think Benedict is concerned about the impact of ecumenical dialogue on Catholics. And there is some indication that he is right -- that it will make Catholics think that we're all kind of the same and it doesn't really matter whether you're Catholic or Episcopal or Lutheran," he said.

On the other hand, Father Reese said, it follows a pattern in Benedict's papacy of making jarring statements without paying attention to how the public will interpret them.

"It is never Benedict's intention to harm the ecumenical movement or to trash other churches, However, he's a German professor and in his classroom you are going to use the language the way he says," Father Reese said.

"He uses words the way he defines them, even if it isn't the way people understand them -- whether he's talking about gays, women, Protestants or Muslims. They feel insulted by his language, even though it is not his intention."

The text is at www.vatican.va under "latest updates."